Block system for railways.



O. WOODS. v BLOQK" SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS. "APBLIOAT'ION FILED OCT. 14, 1908.

"Patented Feb.-18, 1913.

Q mx um bQ W I n. w \T w? p? Q m L EGG Witnmu CARL woons, or KAnsAs cz'rY, MISSOURI.

BLOCK SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS.

1 '0 all whom may concern I Be it known that I, CARL Woons, a-citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, inthe county of Jackson, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Block Systems for Rail- ,ways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, QIId'BXQCt description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railways and has special reference to a controlling apparatus to be used on steam and other railways. The object ofthe invention is to rovide an improved form of block system to control the movements'of trains. y Another object of the invention is to. pro-- vide an improved system whereby the danger of head-on collisions is prevented. I v With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in general of a step by step mechanism controlling circuit completing devices, one portion of the mechanism being controlled by the movement of one engine into a railway block "and the other portion controlled by the movement of another engine, together with means for applying the air brakes to both of said engine when the circuit is completed.

The invention further consists in certain novel details of arrangement. and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically set forth in the claims.

In the drawing the figure is a diagrammatic view of the various portions of this device as they appear when there is no engine in the block.

It is to be understood that wherever in the specification and claims the words normal position or normally are used with reference to the various )ar'ts of the mechanism, these expressions re er to the positions of the parts at'the time when no train is in the block wherein these parts arelocated.

The numerals 10 indicate the rails of the track and these rails are bonded together within the block by means of a wire 11. The lines 12 indicate the limits of the block and the rails at these points are insulated from the rails of adjacent blocks.

At a suitable position adjacent the track there is provided a casing 13, which may, if desired, be supported on a pole to be out Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18,1913.

' Application filed October 14,1908. Serial no. 457,679.

of reach of interference by unauthorized persons- Within this casing is provided a pair of ratchet wheels each of which is provided with a non-conducting segment 14 and a conducting segment 15. The non-conducting segments 14. preferably forms one-half of each wheel. These wheels are pivotally mounted as at' 16. A lever 17 is pivotally mounted within the casing and is provided with a spring-pressed pawl 18 normally en gaging one of said ratchets. A similar lever 19 is provided with a. awl 20 which engages the other ratchet. ach of these levers is provided with a retracting spring 21, one

end oi. which "iskattached to a'screw 22 mounted in a post "23 for the purpose'of regulating thetension. The lever 17 is provided with an armature 24 andthe lever 19 with an armature 25. Suitably positioned below said armatures are magnets 26 and 27,.

the magnet 26 being adapted to attract the armature 24 and the magnet 27 being simi-q larly adapted to attract the armature 25.' Retaining pawls 28 are also provided within the casing and serve to prevent the rotation of the'ratchet wheels in one direction. At 29 is.a contact finger which bears. against one-of the ratchets and at 30 is a' similar contact finger bearing against the'other ratchet. These contact fingers are connected bymeans of a wire 31. In alinement with the contact finger 29 is a similar con-tact finger 32 and in alinelnentvwith the fingerBO is a similar. finger 33,; From the finger 33 a" wire 34 extends to one oftherails 10 and from the finger 32 a wire 35 extends toja contact plate '36 located near the centeiiofthe'track. Each -of the. engines is provided" with a battery 37 connected by a wire 38 to a contact finger 89 and-by a wire 4( to a contact finger 41L The contact finger 39 is adapted to bear' against certain conta t plates as the engine passes along the tract and the contact finger 41 is at all times in contact with one of the rails. At 42 is pro-- 42 and 36 areplaced at what may be calledthe entrance portions of the block. Similarly spaced contacts 45 areplaced at what may be termed the exit from the block an d. a v

vided a plurality of spaced contacts so that .a-iivire 46 servesto connect these contacts with I the wire 43 and thus with the magnet 26. Each of, the engines is'provided' with an auxiliary lever 52 controlling an air valve 53. At 54 is a magnet. A lever 55 is piv- 10 link 575 now'a current be sent through -the,-;{ ma gn 11,54, the lever will be depressed and-byth -movement will open the valve 53.jand'set.g.the brakes on the train. For the purposeofactuating this magnet a wire '58 1 connectsithesame with the battery 59 and a jv wire 60 extends from said battery to a contact fingerf6l'arranged to contact with the plate 36. A similar wire- 62 extends from the magnet 54 tola contact finger 63 arranged to contact with the railv 10. Now when the circuit has been established by two engines entering the block,'the current will flow when contact is made between the finger 61 and plate 36 from the battery 59 through the"wire 60, finger .61, plate 36, wire 35, finger 32, the conducting side of the ratchet on which that fingerbears, finger 29, wire 31, finger and conducting side of that "ratchet, finger 33, wire 34, rail 10', finger 63, wire 62, magnet .54 and wire 58 back to the battery. The magnet will thus be actuated I and the brake set. i

In operation and referring'to the figure of the drawings, it will beobserved that the lower wire 31 is in circuit with the wires 34'and 35 through the medium of the conducting sections of the disk. It will also 7 v be'observed that in this position of the disks, the upper wire 31 is insulated from the wires 34 and 35 on account of the contacts 29 and 32' and 30 and33 having engagement with theinsulated segments o f the disk. When an engine enters the block from the right hand side, the circuit will be closed, and as a'result, the magnet 26will be energized for three consecutive times, thereby rotating the disk on the right for a distance equal to the width of one segment]; As a result, the upper contacts 29 and 32 will engage with a conducting segment of the disk, whereas the 'lower contacts 29 and 32 will engage with an insulating section of the disk; It will thusbe observed that as this 'enginepasses through the block there will be no circuit formed to energize the magnet 54. Should, however, a train enter the block at the same i time from the left handside, the magnet l 27 will be energized as above described for three consecutive times, and as a result, the disk on the left hand side will'be rotated for a distance'equal to the width of one of i the segments. As a result, the upper con i tacts 29 and 32 and 30 and 33 will con-v tact with the conducting segments of the respective disks, as is clearly shown in the drawing. In this. (isition,- as soonas the engines enter the .sufliciently so that the shoes 61- and 63' engage the plates 36 'ofthe rail, circuits will be formed to actuate the magnet 54 and consequently automatically apply the brakes. It fur; thermore be observed that when any, number of engines pass through the-block, one

of the disks is partially rotated at each time, and by employing the four pairsofcontacts, it is immater al as to what position either of the disks assumes, because two pair of the contactswill always contact with a respective pair of conducting-segments of the disks, and thereby retain the circuits including the magnets54 in an open position ready to be closed by the shoes 61 and 63 whenever-two engines enter from opposite ends of the blocks. It is thus seen that as soon'as two engines enter the block equipped with this device the air brakes will be applied to both of said engines and collisions absolutely prevented. a

From the foregoing it. willbe observed that by employing fthe'two lower pairs f contact fingers, acirfcuit will be closed therethrough should a train follow another into the block beforethe latter has passed out at the opposite end, and the magnet- 54 of the following train will be energized to set the brakes. Also if the circuit connections through the magnet'26 and 27 are defective and one of these fails to operate on entry of a train into the block, a circuit will be closed through the magnet 54 of the train when contact 36 is reached, said circuit includingthe lower contacts.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the specific arrangement of these parts without departing from the principles involved. It is not therefore desired 'to confine the invention to the exact form shown and described, but it' is wished to include all such as properly come within the scope thereof.

Having thus described is claimed as new is: v

1. In a block system, two circuit controlling disks provided with alternate segments of conducting and insulating material, contacts normally-resting on the insulating segments, a train controlling contact ad acent each end of a block, circuit connections between each contact and the track, said con- -nections including the aforesaid contact fingers, electromagnets one for effecting a step by step movement of each disk, contacts adjacent each end of the block connected with one of the electromagnets, train carried means adapted to engage said contacts when the train is moving in one direction, contacts adjacent each end of the block connected with the other magnet and adapted to be engaged bysaid traincarried means when the train is moving in the, OPPOSltE direction,

the invention, what the contacts connetted with said'cletitr'oinegnets being locatedlnearer the ends of the block, than said traincontrolling'contacts.-

two step by step circuit controllers each provided with means for alternately openingand closing said connections atone point,

' each controller,

' traveling m one circuit controller to close said circuit connections thereat when entering the blockL saidconnections being normally open at direction for operating one of a. bloclg con- 'ontact and the track,

means controlled by attain? and before reaching said contact and for operating controller too said circuit-connections when leaving t e.b.l ock after havin passed said train controlling contact at 't tend,- dnd similar-train controlled means for op- 20 e'rat-ing' the other circuit controller by a' train moving in the opposite direction. In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

. CARL WOODS.

the same circuit witnesses:

- E. E. Hmonovn, Ammn'rWoons.

train controlling 5 

